SAFFABOY

Out of interest,what is the average price you guys are getting for your guppy's once you sell them on.Is there a market for them. I used to breed guppies and sailfin mollies( golden,black,snow white and marble varieties) in South Africa.Each new season i'd start with 10 huge guppy females to each different guppy male.I had common snakeskins,black tuxedo's,scarlet tails,and sunsets..the red tail with yellow bodied guppies. If i didnt scoop out about 200 guppies every day, within two months ,I would have been worried.When you breeding in three 3mx500x2m ponds...GUPPIES REALLY DO BECOME JUST NUMBERS. I must admit i wasnt selectively breeding ,but you do tend to see the strong genes of the snakeskin coming through constantly. No special feeding,just plain flake crushed up.Even the fry got crushed flake and algae on sides of ponds ,was a bonus! I found i lost a lot of young to dragon fly larvae in my ponds!

Go to NEW WORLD supermarket.BEEF HEART is like $3 at most for a whole heart.It lasts for ever...so cheap.Dont over feed-pollutes tank.

THANKS CARYL

What clubs are out there in the chch area. I spoke to Scalare at Animates at Papanui ,in Dec last year.I lost the details he gave me for a club in chch.Heck ,i even forgot his proper name. Anyone got any contact details for me? Thanks

ANYONE GOT SOME YOUNG MARLBORO REDS FOR SALE IN CHCH?

Thanks for the offer brian.I've also got a mini bale of peat here. I'm just finishing off my new plumbing on the tank and then i'll hook up the peat again.It was getting in the way before. About three weeks ago,i had the peat on the tank and it definately did drop the ph.It also made the tank real yellow.However i dont have my lights attached yet,so it probably looked worse than it should have.

Hey guys,well update on my discus disaster. I ended up losing three of my new young marlboro reds .The last one of the four is perfectly fine as is the other three turquiose. I have no idea what went wrong. Brian what is na- is that nitogen? I'm split between two theories for their demise. 1.The water parameters from supplier to my tank was too stressful and it eventually caught up with them after a week.However i find it difficult to believe they were too stressed out .I mean after all they were eating ox heart out of my hand that very morning. 2.I think Brians theory of over feeding might have hit it on the head.I was slack in not doing a water change that week- no excuses. I suppose you live and learn.I'm gutted at the moment.I have no interest in the tank at present.Lost a bit of my motivation. Thanks for everyone's advice and help. Regards Rory

I'll have to look into these tap water readings. Thanks for all your help.I really appreciate it. Rory

yeah they've been eating really well.I've fed ox heart three times and this morning they even ate out of my hand! That's why i'm so cheesed off and frustrated.

My KH test is the hagen test.I put in two drops to get it to turn yellow.They say you then times that by 10 to get a reading.Mine was 20. My nitite was below the reading on the test.It stayed clear .The test starts on 0.3mg/l ,which is a light pink colour.Well,mine was below that ...maybe a zero reading then?? I've kept discus before in south africa ,so this isnt a first time discus keeper.Just never had this problem before. I rate it was probably temp,and other water parameter differences from supplier to me.

The tank has been at 26 since i started it.It did drop down a frction when i did that water change today.It's back up to 26 now.I'll change it to 30deg now though.

The thing that stresses me out is that they suddenly just acted up like that...IN FRONT OF ME. The only test i did was of ph and the bloke had them on a ph of 5. That's quite some jump.No matter what i did there was no way i could get them to acclimatise THAT quickly to a ph of 7.4 from 5. Do you rate i leave them in the tank and hope for hell they survive the night or separate them all(discus) into a bucket etc. I dont have anything to lower ph on me and its like 10:30 at night.

AMMONIA 0 PHOSPHATE 0 PH 7.4 GH 40 KH 20 NITRATE LESS THAN 5MG/L NITRITE LESS THAN 3 MG/L TANK RUNNING 2.5 MONTHS Only had the 7 discus 1 week.They average about 1.5 inch without tails.Dont know how old. There are two dwarf gouramis ,15 neons and 4 corys with the 7 discus. gravel bottom water changes of 25% twice weekly,BUT never did a change this week. Never treated for any diseases. tank is 920x420x420

NO,i've changed nothing today at all.I was buggering around with the new piping i'm fitting to the tank ,but non of it is connected to the tank yet. I did feed ox heart three times this week,never quite got around to doing a water change though.I didnt think it too serious,considering it was almost all gone by the time it hit the floor.Then i also have four cory's to clean the remainder. I'm really gutted.The neons and pearl gourami's look fine.Hell the other discus look fine ,but then again so did the second dying one ,when the first was dying.

I've been watching my discus all day- pottering around the tank all day.I noticed one of my young discus gasping around near the surface.He then started just floating around the tank,no propulsion,just going with whatever flow was in the tank.Then he started upside down movements while still giving the odd fin movement.An hour ago we found him now lying on his side ,on the gravel-still alive.He has now died. I did a water change when i saw him gasping...plenty of air. Now a previously good looking discus of same size and type is going down fast too! All my water parameters check out. What do i do?? ANOTHER water change now? Separate him into a bucket with ALL new water? I dont want the rest of my discus to go this way over night. Any help???PLEASE

Hey guys, I've been reading all these threads about pmdd and the great results achieved.However as a fishkeeper who has never worried about plants,i'm now taking an interest. I'm keen on having some real lush plants and am intersted in a cheap,diy answer to all these off the shelf plant fertilizers. HOWEVER,I'm finding this whole pmdd recipe quite daunting. Now dont shoot me if i'm totally mislead.Could you not buy a big liquid fertlizer for terestrial plants from a garden centre for use in the tank? If the chemical elements are similar to that required for aquaria and pmdd,then shouldn't they work? Would they harm the fish? Surely chemicals are chemicals ,and if the pmdd requires a certain element and the terrestrial liquid fertilizer has it too -It wouldnt do any harm? Ideas?

KERMIT - YOU'RE A BLOODY LEGEND ! To everyone out there,keep this Rexel places name somewhere- you never know when you'll need to set up another tank This is definately the cheapest price for splashproof end caps i've seen. Cheers again.I'm gonna go on sat early!

DO YOU KNOW WHAT MAKE THEY ARE?

Hey guys, I'm looking to pick up some CLEAR pvc tubing.It needs to be around the 50mm diameter. Anyone know where i could pick some up in chch. Got a great plan up my sleeve to make my heater "disappear" ! PLEASE PLEASE HELP.

Don't you just love ANIMATES STAFF! Thanks Found a great supplier of plants that can go in both tropical and pond.Some ratala varieties.$8-90 for a 0.5L pot.MUCH cheaper than pet stores...size for size of plant that is.

I think you gonna find it hard to get t5 end caps,mate! I might be wrong though. I've checked these caps out.Kritter Kindom can get them for me at +/- $30. Those are for t8's by the way. I'm looking at my old lfs shop back in south africa.I think it might work out cheaper,with postage!My old man is on the case! Old reef keepers never die! Bless! Anyway,they are out there.Ask for arcadia end caps.Petware import them and southern petware should have them in the south island.Note:these guys are wholesalers- you need to contact your retailer to order through them. Cheers

Anyone know of a retailer who sells them and how much.

do you find the "peat bomb" makes the water brownish.I'd really like to get the benefits of peat without the brown water result.any theories on that.RO looks too expensive.I'm only a humble apprentice builder.

I have one of each above gourami male.The dwarf is the dominant of the two and is showing striking colours.They started to chase each other ,then the next day the dwarf got really dark colouring on his head.He still ahd his other beautiful colours ,but noiw including a dark head shade.Fins were also spread towards each other. Is this just two males going at each other.Is the dwarf in breeding colour?Will he attack and perhaps kill the sunset-same size. Should i get rid of the sunset- i like the dwarf?The tank is going to be for discus and heaps of neons.Dont want continuos fighting. any advise?

Silica sand is the only media in my filter.It's really really fine stuff.No shells in it,although the silica sand itself ,perhaps would increase the ph???